A child died today. He shot himself after a failed attempt to confront a teacher. He shot two other students before turning the gun on himself. And then, a nation was filled with the clamor of blame. “It was the guns.” “It was the NRA.” “It was the parents, not raising him right.” “It was the schools. No discipline. Where’s the prayer?” “It was Obama. It’s a Blue State.”...

When the social order of our culture changes within a matter of years and not decades, the Church must deal with the difficulty of orthodoxy in a shifting paradigm. For many, this is a simple matter. Either you are part of the change or you are part of the barriers to that change, depending on your degree of liberalism or conservatism. But how you navigate change matters. We’ve not done a good job of moving forward to new things. Too...

I’m a social media junkie. When I cruise through Facebook and Twitter, I feel like John Wesley on a digital destrier, riding from village to village with good news, learning about the people of that hamlet, and providing presence albeit in a limited form. There are some distinct differences. Take, for example, the prevalence of sarcasm and irony online. Recently, I ran across the weirdest nativity scene I’ve ever encountered....

Today, when I walked into the clergy meeting in Lexington Tennessee, I discovered that we were going to be talking about “adaptive versus technical solutions.” Part of me rejoiced. This sort of thinking is changing and transforming leadership across the country and around the world. But there is a downside. Adaptive solutions are hard. Let me explain. Technical solutions are straightforward and simple. They are quick and often easy...

David Bowie probably hasn’t pondered the United Methodist Church‘s iteneration procedures. Oddly, this phrase from his song, “Changes,” pertains in a very relevent way. And it echoes the scriptural story in which Elijah hands off the ministry to Elisha with advice, admonition, and even a parting of the waters to make a way forward. We should do more to part some of the murky waters in our United Methodist transitions....